Finding God. Most. Need Him. When You CHIP INGRAM. (Unpublished manuscript copyright protected Baker Publishing Group)

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1 Finding God When You Need Him Most CHIP INGRAM Chip Ingram, Finding God When You Need Him Most

2 2002, 2007 by Chip Ingram Published by Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI Spire edition published 2014 ISBN Finding God When You Need Him Most is the revised and updated edition of I Am with You Always (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002). Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Orange, California. Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois All rights reserved Chip Ingram, Finding God When You Need Him Most

3 Contents Acknowledgments 6 Introduction 7 1. When You Get a Raw Deal In Times of Crisis When You Feel like a Nobody Going Nowhere When You Are Troubled and Depressed When You Are Gripped by Fear When You ve Blown It Big Time In Times of Confusion God Is with You Always 208 Notes 223 Chip Ingram, Finding God When 5 You Need Him Most

4 Acknowledgments First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the kindness and grace of a sovereign and good God who has allowed pain, suffering, and difficulty to enter my life at strategic points to draw me into a deeper, richer, and more intimate relationship with himself and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I am also deeply indebted to my wife, Theresa, and our four children, Eric, Jason, Ryan, and Annie, for their love, example, and encouragement during my times of need. The project would have been impossible without the contributions of Connie Neal, Neil Wilson, and Vicki Crumpton, who helped me turn tapes, outlines, and manuscripts into clear, readable chapters. Closer to home, Annette Kypreos, my former executive assistant, and Sealy Yates, my friend and literary agent, were both instrumental in taking a great idea and bringing it into reality. My final acknowledgement is to those who pick this book up and read it in their time of need and meet God in a power ful way. My reward and joy is knowing I had the privilege of being a small part of that divine encounter. Chip Ingram, Finding God 6 When You Need Him Most

5 Introduction A moonless Texas night had settled on our neighborhood. It must have been a Saturday evening because I remember sitting on the living-room floor with my wife and kids while we folded the church bulletins for the Sunday service. Suddenly, ferocious barking erupted down the street and footsteps thudded up the walkway. Someone pounded on our door. I jumped up, ran to the door, and threw it open. There stood Michael, a friend of my older boys. He was sweaty and breathing hard. He looked like he d just seen a ghost. Let me in! Let me in! he pleaded, gasping for breath. What s wrong? I asked. There s a huge dog. It s after me. It s going to kill me. Michael s body shook as he turned around to look for his assailant. By now my whole family was at the door. The barking grew louder. We all stared, waiting for Michael s ferocious attacker. As I flipped on the porch light, a tiny dog bounded into view. His bark was bigger than his height! We all burst out laughing. Chip Ingram, Finding God When 7 You Need Him Most

6 Introduction Now remember, it was pitch dark. Michael thought he was in grave danger because he couldn t see anything. The moment a little bit of light corrected his perception, he changed. He was relaxed and laughing with embarrassment. At that moment I remember thinking how our perceptions always determine our actions. Michael thought he was in danger; he felt a desperate need to find a safe place. He knew he could take shelter at our house, so he dashed to our door. We all have times like these. Most people run to God almost instinctively. Even people who aren t too sure about God. Why? Somehow, we know deep down or at least hope that God will be our shelter. I wrote this book to encourage you to run to God whenever: you get a raw deal and life just isn t fair, you re going through a crisis or a major life transition, you feel like a nobody going nowhere, you re troubled and depressed, you re gripped by fear, you ve blown it big time, or you re confused. God s Word, the Bible, will enable you to see your situation in a different way. It will flip on the porch light over your soul so you can see what s really going on and what God would have you do about it. I m telling you up front that God is the place to run. He is and always has been a shelter, a safe place where people can take refuge. God is real and ready to open his door to all who run to him in times of need. Chip Ingram, Finding God 8 When You Need Him Most

7 Introduction Each chapter in this book looks at a specific need in light of one of the Psalms the songbook of God s people. The Psalms are God-breathed, so they give truth and light. They were written by real people who didn t hold back their emotions. These people dared to bring their desperate needs to God. Each chapter addresses a need common to us all. You may not have experienced all of them, but eventually you probably will. When these needs suddenly invade your life, I d like you to know where you can turn in the Bible to find truth and encouragement. I also highlight an aspect of God s character that corresponds to the issue. Along the way you will meet some special people who have taught me by their lives, under extreme conditions, that they know God was with them. I don t want you merely getting fresh ideas about God, nor do I want you simply to collect amazing secondhand stories about God s comforting presence. What I really want is for you to encounter the living God as he reveals himself to you. This is my prayer for you as we begin this journey together: O Lord, open their eyes and let them see! I ve borrowed this prayer from the prophet Elisha. He used it on an occasion similar to the tough spot in which Michael found himself. The story is told in 2 Kings 6:8 23. Elisha and his servant were wanted men. The king of Aram had a contract out on their lives. Eventually, someone revealed their location to the king, and he sent an army by night to capture the prophet and his assistant. The soldiers quietly surrounded the village where Elisha was staying. When morning came, the servant left the house. Everywhere he looked there were armed men on horseback. Chariots, spears, and swords blocked every way of escape. Elisha Chip Ingram, Finding God When 9 You Need Him Most

8 Introduction and his companion were surrounded. In shock and despair the servant called out to Elisha, Oh, sir, what will we do now? (2 Kings 6:15 NLT). Instead of answering his servant s question, Elisha addressed his terror. Don t be afraid.... There are more on our side than on theirs! said the prophet. Before the servant could ask what he meant, Elisha prayed, O Lord, open his eyes and let him see! The Lord opened the young man s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:16 17 NLT). The prophet s assistant caught a glimpse of ultimate reality. He learned a lesson that God allows each of us to learn throughout life: there is so much more to life than what we can see. Unless we can learn to expect God s continual presence in every part of life, we won t be able to experience his presence when we need it most. So again, my prayer for you as we begin is, O Lord, open their eyes and let them see! Chip Ingram, Finding God 10 When You Need Him Most

9 1 When You Get a Raw Deal Some moments in our lives remain forever fresh. Like a scene from a movie embedded in our soul, we can recall with uncanny clarity every nuance of certain events that occurred years, even decades ago. The story I share here is one of those an unforgettable, dramatic moment in my life when the world seemed very unfair. That moment left me so devastated, I was ready to forsake my relationship with God and quit the Christian life. But God met me in that time of need like never before. I was twenty-one years old and had recently made the most difficult decision of my life. After months of struggle, I willfully chose to allow Christ to be the Lord of my life. It meant breaking off a relationship with a girl I loved deeply and had assumed would one day be my wife. We had dated for over two years and had done all the things you do when it s serious. I had visited her family on several occasions, and Chip Ingram, Finding God When 11 You Need Him Most

10 Finding God When You Need Him Most she had visited mine. We were both believers. We both loved God and loved each other more than anything or anyone we had ever known. She was beautiful. We connected. We became great friends. She was all I ever dreamed a wife would be. But the more we talked about our life together, the clearer it became that an immovable object blocked our way. The dream in her heart pictured us living in a nice home with a white picket fence across the street from her mom and dad. She was an only child and was very close to her parents. She had a deep sense of responsibility toward them, and they were reaching their twilight years. I knew deep in my heart, even then, that God wanted to use my life in a way that would mean going wherever he called me, whenever he called. As much as I loved her, I knew marrying her was not God s will for me. The decision to break off our relationship in deference to the will of God was the greatest sacrifice I had ever been asked to make. Even though I knew our breakup was right, it was excruciatingly painful. In my mind the choice was clear, but my emotions refused to catch up with the rest of me. After we broke up, I was a basket case for the better part of a year. I cried out for God to change her heart. I vividly recall sitting on a hill across from her dorm and begging God to let it work out for us to be together. I didn t date anyone else; I didn t want to. I secretly prayed and fasted, hoping that God was simply testing my loyalty. I trusted that just as God had given Abraham back his son Isaac, after he had been willing to sacrifice him, so God would give her back to me. Surely God would reward my faithfulness, I reasoned. Instead, God did the unthinkable. Chip Ingram, Finding God 12When You Need Him Most

11 When You Get a Raw Deal The Raw Deal It was late and I was tired. I played basketball on my college team, and a humiliating home game had just ended. I was emotionally down, physically fatigued, and spiritually frustrated as I trudged up two flights of stairs from the locker room to the exit. With my hair still wet and my jacket over my shoulder, I looked up to see a sight I hadn t seen in months. Standing at the top of the stairs was my former girlfriend. She was waiting in our spot, next to the railing where she always used to meet me after home games. I could hardly believe my eyes! Instantly I thought, God has answered my prayers! She is standing there waiting for me, just like the good old days. As the adrenaline and joy surged through me, I started making plans. We d go get a bite to eat, and she d tell me how God had changed her mind about our future. As the distance between us shortened and my eyes met hers, I sensed something was different. There was no warm smile, no step toward me, no arm around my waist only an uncomfortable, Hi, Chip. Before I could fully grasp what was happening, another player on our team bounced up the stairs, brushed past me, and grabbed her hand. The cold air rushed through the open doors and rolled over my wet hair and numb mind. I watched in stony silence as she put her arm in his, and they walked across campus into the night. Then it hit me: She wasn t waiting for me. She was waiting for someone else. As the glass doors slowly closed behind them, I felt frozen in time. A wave of anger swelled up from within the depths of my soul. The emotions shot through me, like pinballs bouncing indiscriminately off every object in sight. But they soon found their target. How could God let this happen to me after the Chip Ingram, Finding God When 13 You Need Him Most

12 Finding God When You Need Him Most great sacrifice I d made for him? And of all the players on the team, how could God let her get hooked up with him? I knew what this guy was like. I knew his intentions with girls because of how he bragged about all his former conquests. And God had just let him walk out the door with the girl I loved? I was livid. Worst of all, I felt betrayed. As I stood motionless in that doorway, I had a mental conversation with God: Let s go over this one more time, God. Because of my commitment to you, I broke up with the beautiful girl I love, the girl I want to marry; and that snake is with her right now! You took her away from me and let her go off with him? Our relationship was the best thing you ever gave me, but I can t have it? Instead, he gets to be with her? And where is her mind? What is she doing? I don t get it! As I walked across campus, my fierce anger at God hardened into an attitude. I wondered whether this God I had come to know was worthy of my trust. I was seriously questioning if I wanted to continue in a relationship with a God who rewarded sacrifice and commitment with injustice and pain. This was a raw deal if ever there was one. It wasn t just about losing a girlfriend or going through the normal ups and downs of relationships in one s twenties; it was about the character of God, and whether he was trustworthy. This was personal, not just between her and me but between God and me. I remember mumbling to myself as I made that long, lonely walk to my dorm room. I feel like an animal. I feel like a beast. I am so angry! Why do bad people who don t walk with God get all the good stuff? And why instead of getting good when I try to do good why do I get what s lousy? Why is life so unfair? This stinks. God, why did you let it happen? Chip Ingram, Finding God 14 When You Need Him Most

13 When You Get a Raw Deal Have You Ever Felt That Way? Maybe you know exactly the kind of emotions and thoughts I m talking about. Maybe you ve experienced the pain of your mate walking out on you or the betrayal of a business partner. Perhaps you know the gnawing injustice of giving the best years of your life to your kids only to see them walk out of your life, indifferent and ungrateful for all you have done for them. Or, after you ve sacrificed endless hours and significant amounts of money to care for your parents, you ve felt the shock and bewilderment at being cut out of your inheritance. Perhaps you know what it s like to work harder, better, and longer in your job and then watch others get promoted because they know the boss or played the game of office politics. Maybe you, like I, have struggled to explain to your Little League son or daughter why he or she sits on the bench even though he or she is twice as good as the coach s child, who gets to play more innings. When we get a raw deal, we tend to get emotionally upset. That s where I was that night. Okay, God, Speak to Me or I m Outta Here When I returned to my dorm room that night, I picked up my Bible and gave God an ultimatum. I had learned how to listen for God s voice as I read the Word, so I opened my Bible. I had been working my way through the Psalms. I planned to give God three, maybe four chapters. If he didn t speak to me in a way that helped me make sense of this raw deal that I d just been handed, I was going to quit the Christian life. To my way of thinking, God wasn t keeping up his end of the relationship. It seemed the more I committed myself to Chip Ingram, Finding God When 15 You Need Him Most

14 Finding God When You Need Him Most God and the more I sacrificed, the more I felt like a fool each time I got a raw deal. Tonight had been the worst. If that was the way the Christian life was going to be, then it didn t seem worth it. I couldn t wouldn t worship a God like that. I didn t grow up reading the Bible, so this was not an old habit. In fact, I didn t actually open it for the first time until I was eighteen. Yet even as a new Christian, God had spoken clearly and powerfully to me through his Word. At this point, however, I wasn t even sure if God would want to meet me in its pages especially when I was raging at him. How would God treat me when every fiber of my being was screaming, God, this isn t fair? I wasn t sure I cared. I picked up where I had left off and read the next psalm. Nothing happened. The words marched through my mind, going somewhere else. I read another psalm nothing but empty silence. No verse jumped off the page. I began to suspect that my fears about God might prove true. I glanced down the page to Psalm 73, and I immediately sensed something different. In the next few minutes, I had an encounter with God that has forever marked my life. He spoke to me in a way that I had never experienced before. I had no idea that the God of the universe would actually interact with a mere human in such a personal and powerful way. I sat on my bed, tears still in my eyes, anger filling my heart, confusion clouding my soul, but as I read the psalm aloud, pausing between verses, the Spirit of God brought thoughts and pictures to my mind. It was as if I had a VCR in my head and it had just shifted from pause to play. God showed me scenes from earlier in the night and replayed the exact words I had said out loud while walking across campus. I read statements in the Scriptures almost identical to the ones I had made. Chip Ingram, Finding God 16 When You Need Him Most

15 When You Get a Raw Deal I don t want to make this sound too mystical, but God spoke to me so personally that I knew I was encountering the living God. I don t pretend that God speaks to me with such vividness on a regular basis, but I don t dare minimize this powerful event either. P S A L M 7 3 The following is a rendition of what occurred in my mind and heart that night as I read Psalm 73. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Chip Ingram, Finding God When 17 You Need Him Most

16 Finding God When You Need Him Most Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge? This is what the wicked are like always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. verses 1 14 Reading Psalm 73 was like reading my biography! My efforts to follow Jesus and live the way he wanted me to live were surely in vain. I had dated the best girl on campus. I had made a commitment before God to run our relationship his way and remain sexually pure. With that commitment came nothing but ridicule and snickers from my peers. All the other guys were out there having fun (there were four girls to every guy on our campus). I was tied up in knots because I was trying to do what God says is right. I had more problems and frustrations as a Christian than I could ever remember having before I committed my life to Christ. But now it seemed struggles and problems were all I had. Worst of all, the greatest relationship I ever had was gone because I was following Christ. I had chosen to obey God s will for my life and in exchange had been given a raw deal! If I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children. Chip Ingram, Finding God 18 When You Need Him Most

17 When You Get a Raw Deal When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me... verses I could hardly believe another human being actually had these same thoughts. Some of the same phrases I used were right here on the page. It was almost scary! I felt goose bumps on the back of my neck as I read the line, If I had said, I will speak thus, because it had crossed my mind what might happen if I had really told anyone the things I had muttered to myself. What if I had said that I was quitting the faith? How would that impact the six guys who were in my Bible study? I met with each of them weekly. I had the privilege of leading five of them to Christ, and they were beginning to really grow in their faith. What might happen to them if I quit the Christian faith or if they heard me talking about throwing in the towel? God, I said, I m still mad at you, but I don t know that I can quit following you.... till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. verse 17 The psalmist, Asaph, was saying he couldn t understand the raw deals in his life. I couldn t either. Then he came before God, and he worshipped and reflected on life in light of eternity. Coming into God s presence and getting a different perspective helped him see that the wicked those who mock God won t get away with it forever. My heart began to soften. My perspective began to shift. As I moved my focus off of my pain and anger, I glimpsed God s view of the whole situation. Chip Ingram, Finding God When 19 You Need Him Most

18 Finding God When You Need Him Most Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. verses Yeah, there was more to life than what was going on right now. It might look like the wicked were getting a good deal and doing great after all, that guy was out there with my girlfriend but he was on slippery ground. How many times had I seen it happen? One day people were big stars, making all the money, proud, arrogant, mocking God, and then boom! God pulled the rug out from underneath them. Those people who despised God, treating him as no more than a fantasy, one day found the tables turned. The psalmist was doing the same kind of analysis I was doing in my heart at that very moment! When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. verses Yes, those words described me. I was so angry that I was senseless. I wasn t thinking right. I was thinking immediate cause and effect. I had even used similar words I m like a beast. How could it possibly be a coincidence that the very words I spoke, and the feelings I felt, were waiting for Chip Ingram, Finding God 20When You Need Him Most

19 When You Get a Raw Deal me in my dorm room in the pages of God s Word? How else could I explain the sense that God knew I had just received an overwhelming blow to my faith? Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. verses There was my answer. I thought of all that God had done for me. I had been a Christian for only about three years, but I could see how God had guided me even to make that difficult decision to break up, which had been a good decision in many ways. God had answered specific prayers, given me peace for the first time, and changed my life. I also knew my future was certain because of Christ s work on the cross. I was secure in the knowledge that I would spend eternity in heaven. As I pondered this passage, I realized that I really didn t like my life at the moment. But my present discomfort and frustration had to be viewed in light of the bigger picture that included eternity. And even though I was ticked off, I knew my relationship with God the one I was experiencing as God met me in this very psalm was the most real, stable, and powerful thing that had ever happened to me. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. verses Chip Ingram, Finding God When 21 You Need Him Most

20 Finding God When You Need Him Most I have God, I concluded, and he is for me. My relationship with that girl, a great job, friends, money, success those things aren t secure. Those will all let me down, but God is always there for me. As my anger subsided, I realized God alone was my security, and that security is not dependent on how I may feel at any particular moment. My thoughts became a halting prayer: I hope I can say earth has nothing I desire besides you one day, Lord, but I can t say it truthfully right now. Meanwhile, my focus was shifting from the girl I lost to the God who was there for me. The Holy Spirit seemed to have dictated this psalm specifically to help me in a way that I had never imagined possible. As I read the word portion in verse 26, a picture came to my mind. I thought about life being like a pie. Everyone gets a slice. I had thought that the slice that would really fulfill me was to spend my life with this girl. But God was saying directly to me, I will be your portion, Chip. All you ever need is me. Just me, Chip; me plus nothing. It might be nice to have me plus a great job, or me plus this or that; but all you ever need to satisfy you is me. I will be your portion. I will be everything you need. I will never let you down. As the Spirit of God spoke those words to my heart, the remaining bitterness and anger drained away. I claimed that verse that God alone is my portion, my all-sufficient helping of the pie of life. This truth has stayed with me ever since. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. Chip Ingram, Finding God 22When You Need Him Most

21 When You Get a Raw Deal But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. verses As the psalm ended, I realized I had done a 180-degree emotional and spiritual turnaround. I had been so mad, so embittered, so hurt. In my rage I had said to God, If you don t speak to me tonight, I m outta here. Even though I had not prayed reverently (and perhaps not wisely) but out of extreme anger over the raw deal I d gotten, God heard me through my agony. And he spoke to me, clearly. I needed somewhere to turn, so I turned to this psalm, and I ended up encountering God there. Beyond just speaking to me, God went on to show me some healthy actions that I could take in response to those times when I get a raw deal. What Raw Deal Is Eating Away at You Today? What raw deal has happened in your life? Do you need help working through the injustice you ve been handed? Are you struggling with life not being fair? Have you pushed those angry feelings so far down that you deny they even exist? Or have you already turned away from God because you have suffered wrongs, perhaps at the hands of Christians, and now you question, as I did, God s goodness, character, and faithfulness? If so, let God speak to you today through Psalm 73. Before you read any further, please take a moment right now to stop and think about a question: What s the major raw deal in your life? I want you to read the rest of this chapter with a specific injustice in mind. I want you to bring up Chip Ingram, Finding God When 23 You Need Him Most

22 Finding God When You Need Him Most some of those painful memories: Who betrayed you? Who gossiped about you? Who did you in financially? Who put the screws to you? Who did something unfair to you at work? Who has talked behind your back at church? Who said things that weren t even true, but others believed them, which hurt you deeply? What happened that was out of human control but seems so unfair that you can t understand how a good God could let it happen? What happened in your life that seems completely unfair? Let me probe a little deeper. Were your mom, dad, grandparents, or siblings involved? Was your wife, husband, best friend, or one of your kids part of it? Lean back away from the page for a moment and ask God to let you face these memories even if they re painful. The more clear they become for you, the more readily God s Word will be able to reach you at your point of need. God is always available to us. Not only does God meet us in his Word, he wants to teach us there as well. While we experience him, he wants to equip us. He meets our needs and then prepares us for the future. The following four life lessons, drawn from Psalm 73, have been particularly helpful to me in dealing with life s raw deals. LIFE LESSON 1: Pour Out Your Heart to God This is exactly what Asaph did as he wrote Psalm 73 he poured out his heart. Even godly people struggle with doubts and confusion when God s truth and their experience don t seem to match. Difficulties don t automatically mean there s something wrong with you or that you re a bad person. They Chip Ingram, Finding God 24When You Need Him Most

23 When You Get a Raw Deal can also mean that life doesn t always make sense. At times, God s truth (that God is good and in control of everything) and our experience (life stinks) don t mesh. That s what happened to me; that s what happened to Asaph. It happened to other Bible characters, and my guess is that it has probably happened to you too. Asaph served as one of three directors in King David s choir. He was one of the worship leaders of the Old Testament. His writings, inspired by the Holy Spirit, made their way into the Bible and are still sung today. When his experience and God s truth didn t seem to match, this mature, godly man poured out his heart to God, which is what is preserved for us in this psalm. Another Old Testament figure, Job, did the same thing, and he was called the most righteous man on earth. He lost his possessions, his children, and his health. He said, God, I am angry! I don t understand what is happening or why! In Job Job wrestled with the raw deal he d received and struggled to manage the tension of holding on to God s goodness and sovereignty while dealing with the tragic difficulties he was experiencing. What I love about the story of Job is that God never grew angry with Job for honestly expressing his confusion, frustration, and anger. God accepted Job s hurt, pain, and everything else that overflowed from his suffering heart. Like Job, we too are welcome to tell God how much we doubt, how we sometimes wonder if he even cares. He can handle our angry accusations, our overwhelming fears, and even our blazing anger and indignation. Of course, we should remain reverent and humble enough to realize that we don t see the whole picture. But God allows us to pour out our hearts to him. Chip Ingram, Finding God When 25 You Need Him Most

24 Finding God When You Need Him Most So go ahead. Allow yourself to honestly pour out your heart about the raw deals you ve received. Stop keeping it all cooped up within, building layers of calluses between you and the God who loves you. God reproved Job, but he never said, Job, don t talk to me that way. God wants us to take our anger, hurt, confusion, and doubts to him. Then he enables us to reach the point Job finally reached when he acknowledged that the working out of God s goodness and sovereignty is a mystery to us mortals. This is especially true when we get a raw deal. Knowing that God wants us to pour out our hearts to him frees us. In fact, it may help you to know that God calls us to argue our case before him. He so longs for a relationship with us that he invites us to do so. Isaiah 43:26 says, Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; state your cause, that you may be proved right (NASB). When I was angrier with God than I had ever been in my life, when I let all my anger come fuming out honestly before God, he met me like never before. And, to my amazement, after I stated my case before him that night, he met me with compassion. Psalm 145:18 states, The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. That s good news only if we re willing to face the raw deal that has come our way. Could it be that you ve gotten a raw deal but you simply won t face it? Could it be that you are afraid to admit your anger openly to God? Are you afraid to acknowledge that you are angry at all? Anger is a reasonable response to injustice, especially if you have dedicated your life to a righteous and just God. So many Christians refuse to acknowledge such feelings and thoughts. Could it be that you don t want to deal with your hurt, wounds, and anger, so Chip Ingram, Finding God 26When You Need Him Most

25 When You Get a Raw Deal you keep pushing the anger back down every time it comes up? If so, realize that pent-up anger has to go somewhere. It gets planted in your body and sprouts as ulcers, headaches, bitterness, resentment, private rehearsals over the unfair situation you ve endured, and outbursts of anger that are disconnected from the real source. So don t allow these raw emotions you re experiencing to fester. Instead, pour out your heart to God. May I gently suggest that you stop reading and take a moment right now to pour out your heart to God about the specific raw deal you identified earlier in this chapter? Find a quiet place and tell God honestly how you feel. Lay it all on the table. Tell him what is really ticking you off and that you don t think it is fair. Tell him what you think, argue each point, and explain why you see it as you do. This is the first step toward experiencing his compassion, love, and healing from the hurt and wounds you ve received. I believe that when you do, God will meet you at that point. LIFE LESSON 2: Consider Your Choices Carefully If you have already taken the first step and poured out your heart to God, you are ready to take step two. This is what we see Asaph doing in Psalm 73: He stopped and carefully considered the impact his choices would have on others. You see, some of our most important decisions come when we choose how to respond to the raw deals we receive. Few things are as difficult to cope with emotionally and spiritually as injustice. It s at times like this that we are tempted to tell God it s not worth it. Chip Ingram, Finding God When 27 You Need Him Most

26 Finding God When You Need Him Most So if and when you are tempted to walk away from the faith, or respond unrighteously out of anger, I urge you to carefully weigh the impact that such a decision will have on your own life and the lives of others. This was a strategic moment in Asaph s thinking, and it marked a turning point in his life. He was angry, but he realized, If I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children (Ps. 73:15). He realized his actions might weaken other people s faith in the Lord. You see, we never truly do anything in isolation. My actions and yours always affect the network of people around us. As God s Spirit was walking me through Psalm 73 that remarkable evening, I imagined the six men in my college Bible study falling away from the faith when they found out that I had quit. This singular thought made me slow down and seriously weigh the possible consequences of any action I took. It is so easy to act irrationally when we are mad and hurting. Some of the dumbest things we do are done out of anger and bitterness when someone has wronged us. Every single one of us has said and done things we wished we could take back. Often these rash words and actions come out when we have been reeling from the pain of injustice. Therefore, I implore you to include this life lesson as you emotionally relive the raw deal that you have faced in your life. Carefully consider, before God, all the possible implications of the actions that go through your mind. Considering the effects of such choices in the lives of others can deter us from doing anything rash that we will regret later. Perhaps for you these words of warning come too late. Maybe you have dropped out of the faith or have become lethargic in your Christian life. Maybe you ve disassociated Chip Ingram, Finding God 28When You Need Him Most

27 When You Get a Raw Deal yourself from your Bible study group or cut off a relationship in a moment of anger. It may have felt satisfying at the time, but since then that action has produced self-reproach, regret, or heartache in your life and the lives of others. Maybe these last few paragraphs have stirred up old hurts that have been living in the cellar of your soul for a long time. You may be someone who still spends occasional time with God and are active in ministry at a superficial level, but you ve never really dealt with the raw deal that he allowed into your life many years ago. You reacted on an emotional level, and now you re living in the shadow of choices that you realize weren t the best for you or others. You see now the harm that has been done but don t know how to undo it. If this is you, God s Word to you today is that it is never too late to reconsider and take a better course of action. Life is not fair, but not dealing with what happened to you or distancing yourself from God because he allowed it to happen is not the best choice. It doesn t resolve anything or change what happened. It doesn t remove the pain. I hope you will choose today to reconsider. It s better to bring your raw deal to God and let him help you handle it. May the Spirit of God have freedom in your heart at this moment to give you the courage to honestly examine where you are, where you ve been, and where God wants to take you. It s never too late to reconsider the impact of the decisions you ve made during times when you have been wounded. LIFE LESSON 3: See the Big Picture The third life lesson that will help you when you ve gotten a raw deal is to get a larger perspective of your situation. Get Chip Ingram, Finding God When 29 You Need Him Most

28 Finding God When You Need Him Most the big picture. The psalmist teaches us that we need to step into God s presence (God s sanctuary), stand in the light of truth, and regain an eternal perspective. This will allow us to look at the raw deal we re coping with now and see what s really important and what is not. We can see this happen with Asaph when he put the brakes on his downward slide. He realized that his thinking was shortsighted and temporal when it came to his evaluation of his experience. In verse 2 Asaph says, My feet had almost slipped in other words, he was ready to quit. He thought living God s way was a waste. He was ready to give up on his relationship with God. In verse 13 he thought, Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure. But something happened when he entered the sanctuary of God. It was then that he remembered the destiny of the wicked. In other words, in the temporal scheme of things, the wicked certainly do seem to prosper. Their way seems to be easy, while those who seek to live a righteous life by God s standards seem to have it rough. Asaph was able to get the big picture when he looked at his situation not through the lens of time, but rather from an eternal perspective. God will use your raw deal to build your character, to change your life, to give you a testimony, and to fulfill a greater purpose. But you must hang in there, trusting in God to bring about a good end. The only way you can have the faith to endure events that don t make sense in the present is to shift your focus off the circumstances and back onto the big picture. Meanwhile, reading biblical accounts about people for whom God did this can encourage you (see Genesis 37 50; Rom. 5:1 5; James 1:2 4). It also helps to consider the experiences of other people who have received a raw deal. There is a man in our church Chip Ingram, Finding God 30When You Need Him Most

29 When You Get a Raw Deal who has been through a lot that wasn t fair, but his attitude amazes me. God used his nightmarish experiences and turned them into a story of amazing grace. Let me briefly tell you what happened. At age eighteen, Jerry was a college football star. One night Jerry saw two guys fighting and tried to break it up. One of the men pulled a gun and shot Jerry at point-blank range. Jerry was paralyzed, his football career over, and his future shattered. Jerry has had to endure thirty major surgeries to deal with complications and has nearly died many times. He described it for me: When I first got hurt, I didn t know the Lord. I was an athlete, so I tried to get through everything by being physically and mentally tough. But the challenges became increasingly more difficult as time went on. I couldn t win on my own. Then I met Christ, and it was like the Lord jumped on the team. That made it a little bit easier. I started trusting the Lord. He got me through the times when it was hard for me to get through. Jerry is a very tough-minded, mentally intense athlete. He is very strong-willed. His struggle, he told me, is to resist trying to do it himself and to really trust God, believing that God will turn a situation around to bring about good. When I asked Jerry to tell me exactly what good has come out of this, he said, There s been a lot of good things. I guess the premier one is my relationship with the Lord. The second biggest is God bringing my wife, Lori, to me. She is an incredible woman. I used to pray, God, if you want me to be married, bring the woman into my life you want me to be with. When he didn t, I said, Okay, I guess you don t want me to have a wife. Well, one day God did it, when I met Lori here at church. Chip Ingram, Finding God When 31 You Need Him Most

30 Finding God When You Need Him Most Jerry didn t just mope around or even think to himself that he was given a raw deal. He told me, When I got shot, I thought, I can t walk, but there must be something I can do. I just didn t know what it was going to be. With God s help, I eventually found many things I can do. Jerry played on the U.S. Olympic wheelchair basketball team and won a gold medal. He s a world-class wheelchair marathoner and has traveled all over the world, both in competition and as a missionary. He teamed up with Joni Eareckson Tada and shared how Christ took his bad situation and turned it around for good. He recounted one moment when he was on the starting line in the Olympic Games in the fifteen hundred meters. The final event in the pentathlon (a competition that combines five events) was about to begin when I looked up and saw myself on the big screen with my name there to show that I was representing the United States. I thought, Wow. This is really cool. Thank you, Lord. It doesn t get much better than this! I asked Jerry how he keeps going, even with all the physical challenges he faces every day. He gave me this example. Let s say I had a really hard marathon, which is twenty-six miles, but I knew at the beginning of the race that no matter what happened, I was guaranteed to win. So no matter how bad the hills were, or whether there was a crash, or how tired I got, I would win. Would I enter the race? Of course. So would you. It s the same idea in my relationship with the Lord. I have an advantage. I read the end of the book and I know the end of the story. We win. I know there will be an eternity where I will not be hampered like I am here. So it doesn t matter what I have to go through here. I m looking forward to the finish line and the medal ceremony. Chip Ingram, Finding God 32When You Need Him Most

31 When You Get a Raw Deal LIFE LESSON 4: Reaffirm Your Relationship with God We ve been focusing on Asaph when he was pouring out his heart to God. Eventually Asaph was able to move from his emotions to a logical evaluation as he carefully considered his choices and the impact they might have on others. In the beginning of the psalm, we see him despairing because he is getting a raw deal while the wicked prosper, but this is only until he enters the sanctuary of the Lord. When he begins to see present injustices in light of coming judgment and in light of all eternity, his heart begins to change. In the end he comes around to the point where he sees God in heaven and says, Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you (v. 25). We see a major shift in Asaph s thinking when he moves from processing his difficult situation to focusing his heart on the person of God. That s when he reaffirms his relationship with God by saying, My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (v. 26). When we come to verse 28, Asaph says, But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. Even though he started out struggling with the feeling that he was getting a raw deal, Asaph eventually realized that he was getting a great deal a personal and eternal relationship with the living God. By the end of Psalm 73, Asaph is no longer fuming about getting a raw deal. He realizes that heaven is waiting for him. The Sovereign Lord, who reigns from heaven, has everything under control; the wicked will pay for their wrongdoing, and God will ultimately work everything out Chip Ingram, Finding God When 33 You Need Him Most

32 Finding God When You Need Him Most for Asaph s good. That really doesn t sound like a raw deal after all, does it? God wants to do the same thing for you. God wants to take the worst things that come your way and use them for your good! At one point when I was talking with the man whose story I shared earlier, I asked him, Jerry, what difference has your relationship with Christ made in terms of how you cope with the raw deals you ve received? He grinned mischievously and said, What makes you think I got a raw deal? Chip Ingram, Finding God 34When You Need Him Most